And Now For Something Completely Different…
April will be Indie Month, where we will highlight a romance book written by an indie author. The results are in: together, we will be reading Ties that Bind by SK Brown (thank you to Heather George for the nomination!), a story about a woman whose marriage is on the rocks….when her former lover re-enters her life. I LOVE a good love triangle, and I am very much looking forward to this one. If you are trying to snag a copy, you can find it on Amazon where it is free with a Kindle Unlimited subscription, or available in paperback.
This month had a particularly good list of nominations, and I will include them here in case anyone would like to try them. I am personally going to make it a point to read several indie romances during the month of April, and I hope a few of you might be inspired to do the same!
Here was our list of nominations:
Forbidden Waves by Holly Huntress
A Rivalry of Hearts by Tessonja Odette
Shifting Dreams by Elizabeth Hunter
Behind the Bench by Jillian Arly
Trip Switch by Allison Speka
On a Flight to Sydney by JA Forde
My Ellie by H Mitchell
Eldrenoire by Elle Wildes
Thank you to everyone who nominated, voted, and weighed in on this decision. The club is truly so fun because of everyone who participates, and I am so excited to continue on this journey with you. I am already brainstorming ideas for May…
See you all on Fable!
Say You’ll Remember Me—Our Abby Jimenez Pick for March
This was my first Abby Jimenez read, and boy was it a journey. Say You’ll Remember Me was a story about a woman who meets her perfect man and goes on a date that lasts until the wee hours of the morning, only to have to decide between ending things or maintaining a long-distance relationship that feels unsustainable. So much of this book was centered around the longing between the main characters, and how they made the most of the time that they were able to find together. It gave me a whole new appreciation for time as a gift, and it really drove home the importance of being able to live a life with the people that you love.
The other part of this story was tricky for me. The FMC moves back to California to take care of her mom who is in a later stage of dememtia, alongside her father, grandmother, and siblings. Everyone had the best of intentions, but as happens with dementia, the situation pretty quickly becomes more than they can handle. Abby did her research and did not skip on some of the gory details of caretaking. If you have experienced this personally with someone that you love, the story might hit a bit too close to home. I certainly felt that way throughout.
However, I will say that despite the tougher content, Abby made sure to provide a bit of humor, a bit of lightness sprinkled throughout, and a happily ever after for two main characters. Without that, I would be crying.
Personally, I found that reading this book with others helped me to talk about my experience in a way that I might not otherwise have done, and for that, I am also thankful.
If you’d like to join in on our club chat this month, you can find us here. We’d love to have you!
Welcome to Author Month—Our First Themed Read
As a club, we’ve been brainstorming different themes that we can play with throughout the year as we choose which books to read, and March will be our first official foray. We decided to hold a poll of authors that frequently get nominated for our club reads, select one together, and then vote on a book from that author’s catalogue. We had some excellent contenders! Nominees included: Meghan Quinn, Alicia Thompson, Ali Hazelwood, Lana Ferguson, and our winner—Abby Jimenez.
Then, as a group, we discussed how to select a book from her catalogue. We had to eliminate her new release, The Night We Met, because it won’t be out until the 24th (Boooooooooo! The timing!). We then had a lively chat where we ultimately decided to begin with a book that would be the first in a series, rather than reading out of order.
This brought up such an interesting point: while you can read a standalone series out of order, the small details that connect each book can actually add a level of fun and emotion that might get lost otherwise. I can think of quite a few of my favorite books that were made better by a cameo from characters who were leads in a different novel. Honestly, sometimes I even tear up when this happens. Don’t judge me!
I love, love, love when authors build up entire worlds in their books, and when you get to experience some overlap as a reader. It makes the whole journey feel immersive and intentional. I’m glad I wasn’t alone in feeling this way.
So, without further ado, our poll is currently live on Fable, and we are deciding between these three gems:
-Say You’ll Remember Me
-The Friend Zone
-Part of Your World
Here is the link to the club if you would like to vote! The poll will be live for 72 hours. See you in the Fable app!
A Novel Love Story: A Love Story About Love Stories
I’m a huge Ashley Poston fan. I discovered that over the course of the past year, as I have steadily been working my way through her recent catalogue of romance novels, starting with The Dead Romantics. I’ve discovered that there are a few things her novels have in common that I absolutely adore.
1. They all contain magic.
2. There will always be something sad, and something redemptive, and I will cry happy tears at least once.
3. While the romantic love story is at the core of the novel, it’s the love story about friendship and family that really shines.
4. My little brain will run wild while reading, trying desperately to figure out how the world of her story works, and how everything will work out in the end.
Because 5: it will all work out in the end.
A Novel Love Story is a story about a girl who loves love stories. She’s a bit lost in her life, and she finds herself, appropriately, also lost on a road trip. She accidentally stumbles upon a perfect, magical little town that just so happens to be the very same town she has come to love inside her favorite romance novels. It’s….the MOST magical.
She gets to meet her favorite characters, and become part of the fabric of the community, and fall in love, and truly, spending time in Eloraton was probably as idyllic for me as it was for her. Isn’t that what we all do as readers? Pass through our favorite stories and live among the characters for a while? I loved it.
Of course, there’s the issue of how this was all possible, and more importantly—what our main character would be leaving behind in her real life should she choose to stay in the town. But, like all of Poston’s books, love wins out in the end after all. Love of friendships, and book clubs, and fictional worlds turned out to be a bit more important than trying to remain still inside a world that didn’t exist. Did I cry? Yes. Was I immediately extra thankful that, like Elsy, I have found a group of people who share the same interests as me? Yes. Was I relieved that the romantic love interest got his act together by the end? Double yes. I really can’t say enough good things about this one.
It was not at all what I was expecting, and for that, I am also thankful. If you haven’t read it yet, but you’re a lover of fictional worlds, I would highly recommend it. If you are a Poston fan already, but haven’t yet read The Dead Romantics….I won’t spoil it for you, but know that there are some character cameos in this book that you might really enjoy.
As always, if you’d like to read what the other members of the book club are saying about this one, you can find us in the Fable app here. We’d love to have you. And if you’re reading this, and you, too, would like to add to our community blog, let me know!
Until then—happy reading!
People We Meet on Vacation: The Reading and Viewing Experience
I am currently obsessed with sharing book-related memes and videos with the book club girlies, and this month’s pick coinciding with a movie release was extraordinary. Having the movie to talk about gave us more to discuss and enjoy together, and now I couldn’t be more juiced up for the release of The Love Hypothesis sometime this year. (Have you seen those teaser vids on social media?!?! The one-armed pickup??? If you know, you know.)
The book vs. movie discussion was interesting too, because in this case, A LOT of changes were made between the two to the point where it was definitely noticeable. I liked how Emily Henry put it in one of her interviews when she said the changes felt like bonus content that the viewers could enjoy. That…actually felt true! The movie definitely made an effort to stay true to Poppy and Alex’s characters, and in spite of the changes in details, I found that the overall story still captured the same sense of when-will-they-finally-just-admit-they-are-in-love that the book is known for.
There were also some details in the book that didn’t make it into the movie, or were briefly mentioned (all the accidents and illnesses) that I felt were positive changes overall. It was nice that movie-Poppy didn’t pee the bed, for example. I also loved to see all of the visuals that were added. Now I can see what New Orleans looks like without having to smell all the late summer smells! Kidding, kinda. And that blue wig! The dance scene! I couldn’t get enough.
I’m not saying that we should always choose books that have movie adaptations on the way, but…..I would be open to this experience again 100%.
If you wanna see what the rest of the team is saying about the book, you can find our club chat here in the Fable app.
A Ghosty Holiday Read
This month, the club officially chose to read Good Spirits by B.K. Borison. This was a very popular pick, but I have to admit that I had my reservations as I began reading. Initially, it gave A Christmas Carol vibes, and I was not feeling like reading a Dickens retelling. Plus, I had just finished a particularly funny holiday read (Meghan Quinn’s Merry Christmas, You Filthy Animal), and was not in the mood for anything somber or involving ghosts.
The main characters were a hot Ghost of Christmas Past and an overall lovely and all-too-loving girl named Harriet who is in love with Christmas. Together, they revisit her memories, many of which involved having an unkind family dynamic, in hopes of finding where she has gone wrong in her life. I wasn’t into it. Who wants to be haunted during the Christmas season? Or revisit awful memories??
But…about 100 pages in, our ghost’s magic begins to go haywire and they begin traveling backward in time to revisit his past, and it is clear that nothing is as it should be. Our hot ghost also manages to fall in love with Harriet rather quickly, and through some kind of magic that I do not understand but could definitely appreciate, he has enough of a physical form for their connection to really blossom, if you know what I mean.
Basically, the story quickly pivoted from a haunting to a story about two souls who are destined to find one another, and I’d be lying if I said that I am not a sucker for destiny. By the time the story ended, I was in deep, hoping that these two would find a way to be together—time, distance, and corporeality be damned. It did not disappoint. If that’s your flavor for holiday magic, you cannot go wrong with this one.
On the importance of book clubs and building connection.
When I had the idea for this book club last December, I was honestly hoping to create the kind of space that I was craving and couldn’t seem to find in real life. I was looking for a community of people who enjoyed reading the same kinds of books as me, but also who I would enjoy spending time with. It felt like a tough ask from the universe!
I joined Booktok and was surprised to see so many content creators focusing on books, particularly romance, and I could tell that I was on the right track. I began finding people I could connect with, somebody mentioned the Fable app for clubs, and slowly but surely, our book club grew one member at a time.
Immediately, I was struck by the number of people who were looking for the same kind of connection that I was. It turns out that not every town has a romance book store (though they are growing in popularity!), romance book clubs, or places for women to connect with one another about what they enjoy reading. I was very happy to have built a space where we could connect over our love of reading no matter where we were in the world or how busy our schedules could be. The online platform itself really promised that time zones wouldn’t stop us from connecting, and there really wasn’t pressure to read at a specific pace because connection could happen at any time throughout the month.
The thing that surprised me, though, was ultimately how kind people could be. I expected that a book club could be full of enthusiasm about books, but I didn’t realize how much of the excitement and connection would spill out from the Fable app and into social media accounts. Women supporting women, especially their creativity, turned out to be the best part about the book club. Growing a community of people who enjoy interacting and bonding over what they love truly became the focal point of the space.
And honestly, now that the club has been around long enough to see people weather storms (big moves, illness, surgery), it’s becoming clearer to me that human connection and support was always the point. Giving people a space to share, create, and be themselves was always the point. And I feel truly grateful to be a part of something that brings people joy. The really good book selections every month are just the cherry on top.
If It Makes You Happy by Julie Olivia
Our November book club pick turned out to be a smashing success—(shoutout to Jessica V. for nominating it!). Not only was it a cozy fall read, but it was an adorable peek back in time to 1997. For those of you who weren’t born yet, 1997 was a simpler time, filled with all sorts of fun cultural moments (tomagotchis! landlines! the Spice Girls! people running past airport security in movies!), and this book was a tribute to so many of those details that I had somehow forgotten. Remember when Clinton was president? We could go on like this all day.
I had also forgotten that movies and stories back then also had characters, especially parents, who seemed incapable of relating to children. This was a theme throughout the novel, and it definitely brought me back to the era of teenage angst. How I wanted to slap Cliff’s ex! Also, who puts their kids on a Greyhound bus to New York??? In a way, it was actually pretty fun to remember the way that 90s kids grew up, particularly since so many of those parental choices would no longer be acceptable in modern society.
I spent so much of the book letting my mind wander back to who I was in 1997, and what I loved about that time, and that alone made the experience worthwhile. But, the story itself was fun. Cliff and Michelle were a grumpy-sunshine, slow burn, opposites-attract duo, and I really enjoyed watching their relationship develop over time. I will admit that Michelle’s attitude was challenging at times, but Cliff seemed into it, so who am I to judge?! Jokes aside, the thing that made this book so cozy was actually the cast of characters that made up the found-family that Michelle desperately needed post-divorce. I LOVED Cliff’s girls and the addition of Rocket, Michelle’s dog, who had his own dialogue throughout (also very 90s!). If you are looking for a little nostalgic rom-com set in Vermont while the seasons turn, this one is for you. It’s also for you if your type is baker dads who yearn.
Read what the club is saying about it in our Fable chat here.